Sticky Buns

Posted in Breakfast, Brunch by

As I’ve mentioned many times on my blog, one of the reasons I love to bake is so that on the weekends you can wake up to delicious home baked goods. These sticky buns are a perfect example of this. You do all the work the night before, and then just bake them the next morning.


Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients
Dough-
1/4 cup warm water
1 package active dry yeast
1/3 cup + 1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup + 1-2 tablespoons milk (I’d start with 3/4 cup and then add the tablespoons if the dough is not mixing well)
4 tablespoons butter, softened
3 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
4 cups flour

Filling-
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Topping-
3/4 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon water
1 1/2 cups roughly chopped pecans

1. The first step is to make the dough. In your electric mixer (or a bowl if you don’t have one), combine warm water, yeast, and 1 teaspoon sugar.  Mix with a spoon and then let sit for about 5 minutes until it is foamy. Before and after photo below.


2. Once it is foamy, add the milk, butter, sugar, egg yolks, orange zest, and 3 cups of the flour. Mix with the paddle attachment until blended.
Then switch to the dough hook and add the remaining flour.
At this point, if you can’t get it to fully mix (mine had lots of loose pieces) add another tablespoon or two of milk. Once the dough is fully mixed, increase the speed to medium and knead the dough until it is a smooth ball. This should take 2-4 minutes. Again, if you don’t have a mixer, you can do this by hand.

3. Now spray a large bowl with cooking spray and set the dough inside. Cover it with plastic wrap and set the bowl in a warm place to rise for 1-2 hours. I had to leave mine for slightly longer because I did it right before people came over, and it still worked out.


4. After the dough has risen, take it out and place it on a cutting board or clean counter dusted with flour. Punch the dough down and let it sit for 20 minutes.

5. While the dough is sitting, prepare your filling. Melt the butter and in a separate bowl mix the sugar and cinnamon.
6. Roll your dough out into a rectangle (approximately 12 x 18 inches). If you have a brush, use it to brush the dough with butter. If you don’t have a brush, you should be able to use a spoon and knife to evenly spread the butter. Now dust the dough with the cinnamon sugar combination.
Next roll up the dough tightly lengthwise. Once it’s rolled up, place it so the open seam is on the bottom and cut into 15 pieces.
7. Now you want to make the topping. In a saucepan, mix the brown sugar, butter, honey, and water over low heat.

Continue stirring until the butter has melted and you can no longer see the sugar. Now butter or spray with cooking spray a 9 x 13 pan. Pour the mixture from the stove into the pan. Then sprinkle the pecans evenly on top.

8. Now place the rolls into the pan. You want to do 3 rows of five. And try to tuck the open seams next to another roll so they don’t open. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and set it in the fridge to rise overnight.

Before going in the fridge:


After a night in the fridge:
9. The next morning, take the pan out and let it come to room temperature (if you’re in a hurry you can set it in the oven while the oven is warming, but make sure to take it out around the time it hits 200). Once the pan and rolls have reached room temperature, cook them at 375 for 30 minutes.

After coming out of the oven:

As soon as you take the pan out of the oven, carefully flip it over onto a plate so that the topping and nuts are on top.

Then slowly remove the pan.
Now enjoy!

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